Reflections on life from an older, working mother with two boys. My blog is inspired by my niece's blog called "Life of a Domestic Goddess." At the end of the day at our house, if no one has been to the emergency room, Childrens' Services has not called, my sweater wasn't on inside out at work, and we have eaten something other than poptarts and donuts for at least one meal, I call it good!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Autism and Down Syndrome

I was confused during the debate last night. The candidates wanted to reference children with special needs--and McCain, I think, was trying to push Sarah Palin's expertise on the subject. As far as I know, Palin's only relevant credential is as a brand new "Miracle League Mom." Her 5 month old baby was born with Down Syndrome. But McCain talked about her expertise with Autism??? Obama picked up on it and also made a brief comment about how autism is on the rise... How did we get from Down Syndrome to Autism??? Is anyone else confused? Does Down Syndrome not have a high enough profile and Autism is a more common disorder, thus talking sympathetically about Autism would reach more voters? Do people not understand the difference? I can believe that some people may be ignorant, but not educated people--not McCain or Obama? Or, not if they are going to talk about it in a Presidential debate. I found it distressing.

Our Joseph has had a rough 24 hours. Report from school yesterday was he fell apart at the end of the day. He had a rough night. No fever so I sent him to school this morning with instructions to call me if he had trouble. I got the call at 1030. I picked him up and took him straight to the Dr. No ear infection. Maybe a sinus infection. Give it a day or two before starting antibiotics... It is hard when he can't tell us what hurts, where, how much, how long, etc. etc. etc. He just knows he doesn't feel well, so he acts out. Welcome to the world of the Miracle League Moms.

PS I just read on Autism Vox that Palin has an autistic nephew. Perhaps McCain could have made that clearer, if that is the source of her expertise. As it was--it was just confusing...